World Cup 2018: Russia - General Chat

[Guest]

Portugal have the style and the players to go that far, but we'll see. I like Italy but I don't think they'll get anywhere under Ventura.

[SirBalon]

Just now, Blue said:

Portugal have the style and the players to go that far, but we'll see. I like Italy but I don't think they'll get anywhere under Ventura.

Italy are always competitive in tournaments...  Not flamboyant or entertaining, just efficient like the Germans.

Although the only teams deep enough to win it are Germany, Spain, Brazil and France on paper.

[Honey Honey]

Italy went out of the group stage at the last world cup 

[SirBalon]

8 minutes ago, HoneyNUFC said:

Italy went out of the group stage at the last world cup 

They’ve also been to two international finals shrouded in scandal and last ditch qualification. They know how to compete... They’re the epitome of competitiveness. 

Every side has the odd dodgy tournament. Even Germany have been party to that during transition. 

[Stan]

I reckon Spain vs Brazil final. 

[Guest]

5 minutes ago, Cannabis said:

The World Cup has a funny way of bringing a dark horse through it's ranks. Remember South Korea and Turkey in 2002 or Portugal and the Netherlands in 2006 and 2010? There will be someone else who shouldn't go as far as they should, Poland or Belgium perhaps? The likely names of Brazil, Germany and Spain will be there but I wouldn't at all be surprised to see a rabbit pulled out of the hat.

It's about time that an African team took to the world stage and reached a final but since a surge in the 00's they've been a bit shit.

Thats why I put Colombia as far as semi's. Colombia have been awful this qualifying cycle but I think they'll get their act together in Russia. They still have a very good team on paper.

[Stan]

4 minutes ago, Cannabis said:

The World Cup has a funny way of bringing a dark horse through it's ranks. Remember South Korea and Turkey in 2002 or Portugal and the Netherlands in 2006 and 2010? There will be someone else who shouldn't go as far as they should, Poland or Belgium perhaps? The likely names of Brazil, Germany and Spain will be there but I wouldn't at all be surprised to see a rabbit pulled out of the hat.

It's about time that an African team took to the world stage and reached a final but since a surge in the 00's they've been a bit shit.

Portugal and Netherlands aren't/weren't dark horses. They were big enough nations with good enough names or squads as a whole to get through the competition. Likewise with Belgium now. With the talent in the squad, they should be getting through to at least quarters I'd say. 

Poland aren't a bad shout. 

[Guest]

I think South Korea have a genuine chance of going far again to be honest. If the forwards are Lee Seung Woo, Son Heung Min and Hwan Hee Chang then they have 3 fantastic forwards and will be a joy to watch.

Senegal also have a great team but I expect the tactical part to let them down like it usually lets down the African sides.

The South Americans have the best chance to be the surprise (unless its Brazil/Argentina of course) I think Poland and Croatia are good shouts although the latter need to work well as a unit. There is also Serbia who have the same issues. Last shout is Costa Rica, who I don't think will go far like last time but have the quality to surprise.

[SirBalon]

South Korea going far in that World Cup was one of the biggest fixes in the history of the game.  Most people know this.

[God is Haaland]

8 hours ago, SirBalon said:

Where's Spain? 

Where's Peru? 

Isn't this talkperu365.com?

[Berserker]

45 minutes ago, SirBalon said:

South Korea going far in that World Cup was one of the biggest fixes in the history of the game.  Most people know this.

Every WC winner has stolen tournaments, Italy and Germany being the most benefited. While Portugal and us are the ones that were robbed the most out of the relevant nations.

[El Profesor]

16 hours ago, Berserker said:

Every WC winner has stolen tournaments, Italy and Germany being the most benefited. While Portugal and us are the ones that were robbed the most out of the relevant nations.

That's because you're small and irrelevant, Blake. 😂 Seriously though, I'd say Turkey was the darkhorse in 2002, South Korea was an abomination. Spain and Italy were totally robbed.

[ASF]

22 hours ago, SirBalon said:

South Korea going far in that World Cup was one of the biggest fixes in the history of the game.  Most people know this.

The games against Italy and Spain were quite something. Daylight robbery. 

For me, the two favorites are Germany and Spain. The only two teams that can make 2 squads of high quality.

Brazil have improved from the dross they had 4 years ago (it wasn't too difficult, because they had some really shit players in the last World Cup), but they just don't have those players that inspire fear in their rivals. Coutinho, Firmino, Gabriel Jesus, even Neymar are miles away from the top quality they had in the past.

I'm not buying the France hype. They are more physical than technical and I expect them to go out against a more talented team than theirs.

We have the problem of our center-backs being old. And you need a top defense to win a cup tournament.

Belgium, Poland, Uruguay, Colombia, any Asian or African team? Nah.

 

 

[Berserker]

5 hours ago, El_Loco said:

That's because you're small and irrelevant, Blake. 😂 Seriously though, I'd say Turkey was the darkhorse in 2002, South Korea was an abomination. Spain and Italy were totally robbed.

Vai tomar no cu!

[Philippe Coutinho]

Probs too early to speculate, but which nations does everyone think will make it to the 2018 World Cup Final at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow? (where Manchester United won their most recent European Cup/Champions League title).

The 2018 World Cup Final will hopefully and most likely feature any combination of Brasil, Germany and Argentina. Belgium, France and Spain the dark horses.

[SirBalon]

1 hour ago, ASF said:

The games against Italy and Spain were quite something. Daylight robbery. 

For me, the two favorites are Germany and Spain. The only two teams that can make 2 squads of high quality.

Brazil have improved from the dross they had 4 years ago (it wasn't too difficult, because they had some really shit players in the last World Cup), but they just don't have those players that inspire fear in their rivals. Coutinho, Firmino, Gabriel Jesus, even Neymar are miles away from the top quality they had in the past.

I'm not buying the France hype. They are more physical than technical and I expect them to go out against a more talented team than theirs.

We have the problem of our center-backs being old. And you need a top defense to win a cup tournament.

Belgium, Poland, Uruguay, Colombia, any Asian or African team? Nah.

 

 

I think Brazil have come a long way from 4 years ago...  They were a shambles in that time and the stupidity surrounding the defection of Diego Costa from playing for his country of birth to his adopted nation was more proof of how badly things were being done.  Not that Costa was an answer to everything by a long shot but he was better by a million light years than that Fred guy who they placed their hopes on.  The reason I'm saying this is because one minute Scholari isn't calling him up for anything and the moment the stories emerge of him contemplating playing for Spain, the CBF try an make the necessary moves to stop the situation.  That for me is a public proof that everyone could see where a football federation is all over the place.

I'm not even going into the production of players and how since the mid 90s the focus of Brazilian football moved from the way they always created footballers into a something trying to resemble European football which has never been their thing.  I don't know if that horrible defeat by that marvellous and beautiful 1982 side changed things and maybe @El_Loco could elaborate more on this...  But Brazilians I've met over the years have held that moment as a shock that moved the goalposts in many of Brazil's football academies.

This side have the capability to win it for one main reason which is that they're a team that have a lot of physical power and at the same time have enough flair up front to win games.  I'm totally with you in that none of the players today would EVER get into the teams of the past, none of the attacking players that is.  They're the best they've got now and a couple of them are good enough to match the best of the rest in terms of Neymar and Gabriel Jesus (Messi and Cristiano aside)...  But you don't need a Messi or a Cristiano to win a championship.  It makes it easier, but you need more than that because otherwise Germany wouldn't be in there with a shout as wouldn't other sides.

What happens is that what we have these days is 'player adulation' in terms of individuals and we forget what this is all about and that's a team setup and a team conditioned to believe they can win.  Individuals can be that single important ingredient that mixes with a very good side to make the difference, but if there are lagoons in your side like Argentina for example, then there is no way in hell that you're going to make them believe they can win it unless the passage emerges easily enough to go through the motions and appear in a semi-final and subsequently one game away from being in the final itself...  Very doable then!

At the same time I've been listening to a few interviews over the past couple of days from past great footballers where they connect this Argentina side and how they've got to Russia 2018 with the one in 1986...  They say there are many similarities although for me the side Maradona was in is underrated and was much better than this one in other important areas of the park.

As for outsiders like Belgium or maybe even France because I also think they're very overrated, I don't see it.  The mentality isn't there!  They're just not good enough at all and people only seem to think about attacking players and place a bet on that.  You have to be balanced and a team!  You have to have a great mentality too and also a winning mentality...

But then again this is football and there's no other sport that can get "minnows" destroying the dreams of giants even though the "minnows" can't win it.  They may not be able to go all the way but they can delete big names off the tournament and that paves a clearer path for someone else to have a go and with a team spirit.

[Azeem]

On 13/10/2017 at 4:31 AM, SirBalon said:

South Korea going far in that World Cup was one of the biggest fixes in the history of the game.  Most people know this.

Yeah and the biggest ever in the history of the game is Germany-Austria. Everybody knows that.

[Carnivore Chris]

15 hours ago, ASF said:

The games against Italy and Spain were quite something. Daylight robbery. 

For me, the two favorites are Germany and Spain. The only two teams that can make 2 squads of high quality.

Brazil have improved from the dross they had 4 years ago (it wasn't too difficult, because they had some really shit players in the last World Cup), but they just don't have those players that inspire fear in their rivals. Coutinho, Firmino, Gabriel Jesus, even Neymar are miles away from the top quality they had in the past.

I'm not buying the France hype. They are more physical than technical and I expect them to go out against a more talented team than theirs.

We have the problem of our center-backs being old. And you need a top defense to win a cup tournament.

Belgium, Poland, Uruguay, Colombia, any Asian or African team? Nah.

 

 

I think it's a bit early for France yet. They have some fantastic young talents but the real difference makers will come out in the next world cup, possibly Euros. The likes of Mbappe, Dembele, etc when they are little bit older and more experienced could really be difference makers for France in future tournaments. They are bringing through a generation of quality players for me, but it's not ready yet.

Portugal are solid defensively when they want to be in the tournaments and have players who can grab goals when they need them. You will be full of confidence and have that winning mentality due to recently winning a Euros and as shown in said competition, you aren't reliant on any one individual. You also have some good young players coming through right now, but what I don't get is why Nelson Semedo isn't a guaranteed starter? I personally think he's currently the best right back around myself. He's immense. Barcelona made the correct decision in buying him instead of Bellerin as far as I'm concerned.

As for Brazil, they don't have the team of the past, but in terms of right now, I think they are as good as anyone away from Spain(who are starting to look like they have another run of success in them under Lopetegui) and Germany. Neymar is a difference maker, Gabriel Jesus is a top young talent, they have creativity with Coutinho and then experience in players like Dani Alves and Paulinho. Not to mention arguably the top left back in the world, Marcelo and a solid defensive midfielder in Casemiro. All of these players, other than Coutinho(and Jesus, although that should soon change), are also used to lifting trophies at club level, so they aren't new to winning. I believe they can go far, although I wouldn't regard them as the favourite.

 

 

 

 

[Azeem]

I have a feeling for Iran

As mentioned with Italy, Iran is not an entertaining side to watch but they know how to be competitive. They showed that against Argentina last time.

[Smiley Culture]

Belgium need to produce at this tournament or they be considered failures. 

[SirBalon]

35 minutes ago, Azeem98 said:

Yeah and the biggest ever in the history of the game is Germany-Austria. Everybody knows that.

You know it! 

[Guest]

19 hours ago, ASF said:

The games against Italy and Spain were quite something. Daylight robbery. 

For me, the two favorites are Germany and Spain. The only two teams that can make 2 squads of high quality.

Brazil have improved from the dross they had 4 years ago (it wasn't too difficult, because they had some really shit players in the last World Cup), but they just don't have those players that inspire fear in their rivals. Coutinho, Firmino, Gabriel Jesus, even Neymar are miles away from the top quality they had in the past.

I'm not buying the France hype. They are more physical than technical and I expect them to go out against a more talented team than theirs.

We have the problem of our center-backs being old. And you need a top defense to win a cup tournament.

Belgium, Poland, Uruguay, Colombia, any Asian or African team? Nah.

 

 

The bits in bold I agree with. 

Fully disagree on Brazil as they will no doubt be favourites. The problem with Brazil has never been the squad. Its been the management. Tite is a proper manager albeit a bit stubborn at times but his magic has worked and Brazil are a force. They are impeccable at the back and a force to be reckoned with up front. Their central midfield isn't great but historically they've never been great in that position. Its always been good forwards and good full backs and now they have a proper number 9 in Gabriel Jesus compared to Jo and Fred in 2014.

Quite honestly, the only teams I see knocking them out are Germany, Argentina or Spain. They'll wipe the floor with the rest.

As for Portugal, I think you're being a bit pessimistic. Great defence and keeper all around and that's what will work in the knockouts. For me, defenders peak in their 30's just like goalkeepers and even more in short tournaments. Look at Pepe in the last Euro's, look at Yepes in 2014 Brazil.

As for the last bit, I don't think anyone is suggesting those teams have a chance but those are the most likely teams to be a dark horse. They can go as far as semi's before being knocked out.

 

[Guest]

4 hours ago, Azeem98 said:

I have a feeling for Iran

As mentioned with Italy, Iran is not an entertaining side to watch but they know how to be competitive. They showed that against Argentina last time.

I think Iran will finish 3rd or 4th in their group. I completely believe that they are a solid side, but their style will make it hard to get past the groups. I can see two 0-0 draws and then they'll lose their last game unless its against Panama or someone like that. 

4 hours ago, Smiley Culture said:

Belgium need to produce at this tournament or they be considered failures. 

Better manager but for me Belgium have regressed since 2014. The talent they have now isn't quite at their prime like it was in 2014. Fellaini, Benteke and Kompany are perfect examples although that's not to say Lukaku, Nainggolan and Hazard aren't doing well.

[SirBalon]

 

This has been leaked and is apparently Argentina's shirt for the World Cup in Russia.  It's caused quite a bit of a storm because of the colours (the away shirt is apparently going to be black) because the two times they apparently had such light blue stripes and a black shirt Argentina had bad World Cups (so I'm led to believe).  I kind of like it with those checks in the blue.

[Honey Honey]

Used to have a shower curtain like that